Golden Knights unfazed facing former coach DeBoer in Western Final
Say series against Stars will be more about 'who they have on the ice'
ByPaul Delos Santos
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
LAS VEGAS -- When the Vegas Golden Knights face the Dallas Stars to open the Western Conference Final here Friday, the presence of Peter DeBoer will add a bit of spice to the proceedings.
But the Golden Knights aren't letting memories of their former coach get in the way of their ultimate goal.
"It's a bit weird," Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb said of going against DeBoer. "At this time of year, though, it doesn't really matter to be honest with you. Pete did a great job here. It was fun playing for him. He's a good coach. But he's on the other end and in the way of where we want to be. For us, it's not really about the coaches, but who they have on the ice and what we have to do to beat them."
DeBoer was fired following his third season as coach of the Golden Knights on May 16, 2022, and replaced by Bruce Cassidy after they missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since entering the NHL in 2017-18. He was hired as Stars coach June 21.
DeBoer guided the Stars to a 47-21-14 record and a second-place finish in the Central Division this season before playoff series victories against the Minnesota Wild (six games) and Seattle Kraken (seven games).
"Pete's a great coach," Vegas forward Chandler Stephenson said. "He has a winning playoff record. He's been here before. Not too much surprise, so it's obviously nice to see. Him having success and the team is having success, it'll be a good series. I'm sure he's looking forward to us."
DeBoer has led four teams, including Dallas, to a conference final. He coached the New Jersey Devils to the Eastern Conference Final in 2012, the San Jose Sharks to the West final in 2016 and 2019, and Vegas to the conference final in 2020 and 2021. He reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2012 and 2016.
"Obviously there's no hiding from the fact that it means a little more," DeBoer said Tuesday. "That would be for anybody in this situation. This happens all the time in the world, right? You move on from a job and you go to the next job, except now we're playing with each other in the conference final immediately after."
Though there will be some knowledge of DeBoer's system, Stephenson said he expects the Stars to change things up before Game 1 (8:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, CBC, SN, TVAS).
"There's obviously a few things that guys are familiar with," Stephenson said. "When you get into it, though, and when things are working or aren't working, you're changing it up. You're trying everything you can do to win."
"We had two monsters [in Edmonton]," McNabb said. "Robertson is smart. … [Hintz] has a little bit of that McDavid speed, so we're going to have to keep an eye on him. With Pavelski on that line, he's a veteran guy who tips everything. He's a smart player.
"They're deep. Good goalie. Good [defensemen]. It'll be a tough challenge. They're playing well right now, as are we. So it should be a fun matchup."
The Stars won all three games against the Golden Knights this season, two of them in the shootout. The Golden Knights were without forward and captain Mark Stone in all three; he missed the final 39 games of the regular season because of a back injury and had surgery Jan. 31.
For Vegas to be successful, McNabb said it will need to stick to what has worked in the playoffs.
"We had some good games we played against them," he said. "We're just going to have to do what we've been doing these playoffs. We need to take care of pucks and play into our system. Our depth has been great. So we're going to need everyone."
